myerstownherald.com

By ERIC FISHER
The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. The Philadelphia Flyers responded.
The Flyers, still feeling the sting of being eliminated by the Penguins’ stirring comeback from a 3-0 deficit in Game 6 of their first-round series, made the biggest splash on the first night of the NHL draft without even making a pick. The Flyers traded their first round pick (No. 21 overall), next year’s first-round pick and last year’s first-round selection – promising defenseman Luca Sbisa – a conditional third-round pick and right wing Joffrey Lupul to Anaheim for veteran defenseman Chris Pronger and forward Ryan Dingle.
The trade served as a reminder that nobody should ever question the Flyers’ commitment to winning.
The Flyers haven’t won the Stanley Cup for 34 years. But it’s not due to a lack of commitment.
In recent years, the Flyers have acquired Peter Forsberg, Derian Hatcher, Mike Knuble, Marty Biron and Danny Briere, just to name a few. Some acquisitions have worked out better than others. But the Flyers never stop trying to get better, which is what every fan wants to see from his or her local teams.
When the Penguins eliminated the Flyers, some fans viewed the first-round exit as evidence that the Flyers weren’t as close to recapturing the elusive Stanley Cup as they had believed after reaching the conference finals – and losing to the Penguins – the previous year. But after the Penguins won the Cup, more fans seemed to shift to the view that the Flyers, who played the eventual champions fairly evenly, are not that far from a Cup.
The Flyers organization certainly took the latter view all along. That is why they were willing to part with such a valuable package of players and draft picks to acquire Pronger.
“I think we’re better today than maybe where we were yesterday,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said the night of the trade. “That’s no disrespect to Joffrey Lupul – I think the world of Joffrey as a person and as a player. And no disrespect to Luca Sbisa. I think he’s a tremendous young player who’s on the rise. But the Flyers are a better team today.”
Sbisa played in nearly half the Flyers’ regular-season games last season after surprisingly making the final roster as an 18-year-old. But Sbisa probably would not have cracked the Flyers’ top six defensemen rotation unless someone suffered an injury.
Lupul, who has been traded for Pronger twice (he was involved in the trade that brought Pronger to Anaheim from Edmonton), scored 25 goals last season. But Lupul’s contract bumps up to $4 million this season, so trading him helps clear room under the salary cap for the $6.25 million Pronger is scheduled to make this season.
So are the Flyers a better team, as Holmgren insists, after the trade? Absolutely.
You can argue about the long-term value of the trade, but the Flyers are definitely better in the short term. They traded a 25-goal scorer and a young defenseman who may not have made the team for Pronger, a former Norris (best defenseman) and Hart (MVP) trophy winner.
The Flyers are not getting the Pronger who won the Norris and Hart trophies. That was nine years ago.
Not to belabor the age issue, but Pronger was the No. 2 overall pick … of the Hartford Whalers. For younger fans asking “the Hartford what?” the Hurricanes were the Whalers before they moved to Carolina. By the way, Holmgren was the Whalers’ general manager and coach during Pronger’s early NHL days; one of Pronger’s Hartford teammates was Flyers coach John Stevens.
Pronger’s best days may be behind him, but, at 34, he’s still pretty darn good. He played in all 82 of Anaheim’s regular-season games last season, compiling 48 points and 88 penalty minutes while averaging 26 minutes, 56 seconds of ice time, second-most in the entire NHL. So Pronger is far from washed up.
Numbers, however, don’t tell the whole story. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Pronger is an intimidating presence. He checks often and he checks hard. He is a leader with a bona fide mean streak.
Last season the Flyers’ defense consisted of Kimmo Timonen, Ryan Parent, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle, Randy Jones and Andrew Alberts. Replace Alberts or Jones with Pronger.
Is the Flyers’ defense better with Pronger? That is a rhetorical question, but if you truly aren’t sure, ask Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin how they feel about facing Pronger when they head toward the Flyers net. Ask Alexander Ovechkin the same question.
You don’t want to focus on one opponent while building your team, but, especially in the Eastern Conference, the road to the Stanley Cup runs through Pittsburgh. The Flyers, eliminated by the Penguins the last two years, know this as well as anybody.
So can Pronger bring the Flyers a Stanley Cup, as he did with Anaheim in 2007? Here is a positive omen for Flyers fans: Pronger was born in 1974, in between the Flyers’ first and second Cups.
This doesn’t mean the Flyers will win the Cup, but Pronger certainly improves their chances.